US5481654A - Output controller for a dot printer head - Google Patents

Output controller for a dot printer head Download PDF

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Publication number
US5481654A
US5481654A US07/923,540 US92354092A US5481654A US 5481654 A US5481654 A US 5481654A US 92354092 A US92354092 A US 92354092A US 5481654 A US5481654 A US 5481654A
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United States
Prior art keywords
printing mode
energizing time
driving
energizing
pulse width
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Expired - Fee Related
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US07/923,540
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English (en)
Inventor
Narumi Kikuchi
Tsuyoshi Matsushita
Yutaka Wada
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Toshiba TEC Corp
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TEC KK
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Publication date
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Assigned to TOKYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD. reassignment TOKYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: KIKUCHI, NARUMI, MATSUSHITA, TSUYOSHI, WADA, YUTAKA
Assigned to KABUSHIKI KAISHA TEC reassignment KABUSHIKI KAISHA TEC CHANGE OF NAME (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: TOKYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
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Publication of US5481654A publication Critical patent/US5481654A/en
Assigned to KABUSHIKI KAISHA TEC reassignment KABUSHIKI KAISHA TEC CORRECTED RECORDED CHANGE OF NAME REEL/FRAME 7589/0250. Assignors: TOKYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/22—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of impact or pressure on a printing material or impression-transfer material
    • B41J2/23—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of impact or pressure on a printing material or impression-transfer material using print wires
    • B41J2/30—Control circuits for actuators

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an output controller for a doe printer head.
  • a dot printer is known in which the printing mode can be selected from a plurality of printing modes having different dot densities such as LQ (letter quality), NLQ (near letter quality), Draft, etc.
  • a printing mode of a highest dot density is LQ, and then, NLQ, and Draft follow in order.
  • a first object of the present invention is to determine the energizing time for a driving coil corresponding to a printing mode selected according to a desired usage.
  • a second object of the present invention is to keep the noise level low even when the printing mode of the high dot density is selected.
  • an output controller for a dot printer head which prints upon driving a driving coil of a dot printer head by a head driving portion, comprising: an operation unit for selecting a printing mode; a printing mode setting portion for setting the energizing time corresponding to the selected printing mode, being connected to the operation unit; and the energizing time control portion for controlling the energizing time for the driving coil corresponding to the output of the printing mode setting portion.
  • the printing mode setting portion is made to output the energizing time data corresponding to the printing mode by selecting the printing mode in operating the operation unit, and based on the energizing time data, the energizing time of the energizing signal, which is output from the head driving portion to the driving coil of the dot printer head is controlled by the energizing time control portion.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electronic circuit
  • FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the relation between a head energizing signal and a head driving current when a Draft printing mode is selected;
  • FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the relation between a head energizing signal and a head driving current when an LQ printing mode is selected.
  • FIG. 4 is a flow chart.
  • a bus line connects a control unit 1 composed of a CPU, etc., a printing mode setting portion 3 connected to an operation unit 2 for selecting a printing mode from a plurality of printing modes having different kinds of dot densities such as LQ (letter quality), NLQ (near letter quality) or Draft, a ROM 4 on which program data are written, and a RAM 5 on which variable data are written.
  • LQ letter quality
  • NLQ near letter quality
  • a head driving portion 7 is connected to the output side of an energizing time control portion 6 to which printing data from the control unit 1 and an energizing time data set in the printing mode setting portion 3 are to be input, and there is provided a dot printer head 9 having a plurality of driving coils 8 which make needles hit a platen being driven by the head driving portion 7.
  • the energizing time control portion 6 comprises a first timer 10, a second timer 11 and a third timer 12.
  • the operation will be explained referring to a flow chart shown in FIG. 4.
  • the energizing time which makes the head driving portion 7 output an head energizing signal to the driving coil 8 corresponding to a selected printing mode is set by the printing mode setting portion 3.
  • the energizing time period is set by being divided into a continuous energizing time period Ta, an on-pulse width period Tb in a chopper driving time and an off-pulse width Tc in a chopper driving time as shown in FIGS.
  • the continuous energizing time Ta is set in the first timer 10 of the energizing time control portion 6, the on-pulse width Ta in the chopper driving time is set in the second timer 11, and the off-pulse width Tc in the chopper driving time is set in the third timer 12.
  • control unit 1 reads out the printing data (dot data) from a character generator in the ROM 4 corresponding to a character code transmitted from a host computer, and outputs the data to the head driving portion 7 through the energizing time control portion 6; in this case, the energizing time period of the head energizing signal which is output to the driving coil 8 from the head driving portion 7 is controlled by the energizing time control portion 6.
  • the first timer 10 of the energizing time control portion 6 counts the continuous energizing time period Ta
  • the second timer 11 counts the on-pulse width Tb in a chopper driving time period
  • the third timer 12 counts the off-pulse width Tc in a chopper driving time period.
  • FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the relation between the head energizing signal and the head driving current A when the Draft printing mode is selected
  • FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the relation between the head energizing signal and the head driving current A when the LQ printing mode is selected; the noise in a printing time can be decreased by making the printing energy per dot small and by making the energizing time for a printing mode having a high dot density LQ in the printing mode shorter than the energizing time for a Draft printing mode having a low dot density.
  • the operation unit for selecting the printing mode the printing mode setting portion for setting the energizing time corresponding to the selected printing mode being connected to the operation unit, and the energizing time control portion for controlling the energizing time of the driving coil according to the output of the printing mode setting portion are provided, so that when a printing mode of a high dot density is selected, the printing energy can be reduced by decreasing the energizing time.
  • the noise level can be lowered, due to an arrangement in which the printing mode setting portion is made to output energizing time data corresponding to the printing mode in selecting the printing mode according to a usage by operating the operation unit, and based on the energizing time data, the energizing time of the head energizing signal which is output from the head driving portion to the driving coil of the dot printer head is controlled by the energizing time control portion.

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  • Dot-Matrix Printers And Others (AREA)
US07/923,540 1991-08-07 1992-08-03 Output controller for a dot printer head Expired - Fee Related US5481654A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP3-197704 1991-08-07
JP3197704A JPH0538847A (ja) 1991-08-07 1991-08-07 ドツトプリンタヘツドの出力制御装置

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US5481654A true US5481654A (en) 1996-01-02

Family

ID=16378973

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US07/923,540 Expired - Fee Related US5481654A (en) 1991-08-07 1992-08-03 Output controller for a dot printer head

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US5481654A (ja)
JP (1) JPH0538847A (ja)
DE (1) DE4225659C2 (ja)
GB (1) GB2258550B (ja)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5797690A (en) * 1995-07-28 1998-08-25 Star Micronics Co., Ltd. Printer and method of adjusting print density
WO2002049847A1 (en) * 2000-12-20 2002-06-27 Axiohm Transaction Solutions, Inc. A method of controlling impact printer noise
US20030074501A1 (en) * 2001-09-17 2003-04-17 Katsuhiko Anzai Method for controlling peripheral device, program for executing same method, storage device storing same program, and computer, peripheral device and system for executing same method

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6899478B1 (en) 2002-08-08 2005-05-31 Cim Usa, Inc. Method and machine for card color printing

Citations (14)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4027761A (en) * 1975-10-21 1977-06-07 Ncr Corporation Matrix print head impact energy control
EP0160318A2 (en) * 1984-05-02 1985-11-06 Oki Electric Industry Company, Limited Printing system for dot-matrix printer
US4602880A (en) * 1984-01-24 1986-07-29 Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. Dot printing device
JPS63132063A (ja) * 1986-11-21 1988-06-04 Tokyo Electric Co Ltd ドツトプリンタ
US4774882A (en) * 1983-10-18 1988-10-04 Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. Method for controlling printing impact power in impact type dot printer
US4833626A (en) * 1986-10-14 1989-05-23 International Business Machines Corporation Optimizing printer throughput
GB2212640A (en) * 1987-11-20 1989-07-26 Triumph Adler Ag Method of damping the rebound of printing-hammer magnets in typewriters or similar business machines
EP0335257A2 (en) * 1988-03-28 1989-10-04 Oki Electric Industry Company, Limited Dot-matrix impact printer
JPH03147855A (ja) * 1989-11-06 1991-06-24 Alps Electric Co Ltd プリンタの印字方法
US5078520A (en) * 1989-03-16 1992-01-07 Fujitsu Limited Apparatus for driving printing head of wire-dot impact printer
US5150311A (en) * 1988-05-17 1992-09-22 Quantel Limited Electronic print-dot generation
US5167459A (en) * 1989-03-16 1992-12-01 Fujitsu Limited Apparatus for driving printing head of wire-dot impact printer
US5170188A (en) * 1990-06-18 1992-12-08 Armstrong World Industries Inc. Control system for ion projection printing and the like
US5268993A (en) * 1990-06-04 1993-12-07 Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha Printer

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2402858A1 (de) * 1974-01-22 1975-07-24 Triumph Werke Nuernberg Ag Schaltungsanordnung zum ansteuern von elektromagnetischen betaetigungselementen bei druckern
US4162131A (en) * 1977-11-02 1979-07-24 General Electric Company Drive circuit for printing head
DE3727283A1 (de) * 1987-08-12 1989-02-23 Mannesmann Ag Chopperschaltung fuer die ansteuerung von elektromagnet- und/oder schrittmotoren-spulen, insbesondere fuer einen matrixdrucker
US5190383A (en) * 1991-06-26 1993-03-02 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Dot printing apparatus

Patent Citations (14)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4027761A (en) * 1975-10-21 1977-06-07 Ncr Corporation Matrix print head impact energy control
US4774882A (en) * 1983-10-18 1988-10-04 Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. Method for controlling printing impact power in impact type dot printer
US4602880A (en) * 1984-01-24 1986-07-29 Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. Dot printing device
EP0160318A2 (en) * 1984-05-02 1985-11-06 Oki Electric Industry Company, Limited Printing system for dot-matrix printer
US4833626A (en) * 1986-10-14 1989-05-23 International Business Machines Corporation Optimizing printer throughput
JPS63132063A (ja) * 1986-11-21 1988-06-04 Tokyo Electric Co Ltd ドツトプリンタ
GB2212640A (en) * 1987-11-20 1989-07-26 Triumph Adler Ag Method of damping the rebound of printing-hammer magnets in typewriters or similar business machines
EP0335257A2 (en) * 1988-03-28 1989-10-04 Oki Electric Industry Company, Limited Dot-matrix impact printer
US5150311A (en) * 1988-05-17 1992-09-22 Quantel Limited Electronic print-dot generation
US5078520A (en) * 1989-03-16 1992-01-07 Fujitsu Limited Apparatus for driving printing head of wire-dot impact printer
US5167459A (en) * 1989-03-16 1992-12-01 Fujitsu Limited Apparatus for driving printing head of wire-dot impact printer
JPH03147855A (ja) * 1989-11-06 1991-06-24 Alps Electric Co Ltd プリンタの印字方法
US5268993A (en) * 1990-06-04 1993-12-07 Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha Printer
US5170188A (en) * 1990-06-18 1992-12-08 Armstrong World Industries Inc. Control system for ion projection printing and the like

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5797690A (en) * 1995-07-28 1998-08-25 Star Micronics Co., Ltd. Printer and method of adjusting print density
WO2002049847A1 (en) * 2000-12-20 2002-06-27 Axiohm Transaction Solutions, Inc. A method of controlling impact printer noise
US20030074501A1 (en) * 2001-09-17 2003-04-17 Katsuhiko Anzai Method for controlling peripheral device, program for executing same method, storage device storing same program, and computer, peripheral device and system for executing same method
US6993609B2 (en) * 2001-09-17 2006-01-31 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Method for controlling peripheral device, program for executing same method, storage device storing same program, and computer, peripheral device and system for executing same method

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH0538847A (ja) 1993-02-19
GB2258550B (en) 1995-06-21
GB2258550A (en) 1993-02-10
DE4225659A1 (de) 1993-02-18
GB9216037D0 (en) 1992-09-09
DE4225659C2 (de) 1995-08-31

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